Having proven his mettle with 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi has since been recruited to take on another major Disney property as one of the directors working on the first live-action Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian. But while Ragnarok saw the Hunt for the Wilderpeople helmsman bring his distinct sense of humor to the Marvel universe, Jon Favreau’s series has reportedly required Waititi’s style to do a little more adjusting to fit the spirit of the franchise.
After a TCA panel for the What We Do in the Shadows TV series, Waititi shared a few thoughts on his involvement with The Mandalorian, explaining how he was hoping to stay true to the tone of the Original Trilogy.
“Star Wars is very different to Marvel style,” Waititi said. “They know that the tone of the first films really should be kind of adhered to. That’s what the fans like and you can’t really disrespect it I guess is a nicer way of saying can’t put too many jokes in. There’s a bit, definitely my tone is in there, the dialogue and stuff like that.”
It’ll be interesting to see how strongly Waititi’s personality comes across in the show, given how fundamental the filmmaker’s sense of humor has always been to his output. Regardless, Waititi seems enthusiastic about the material, claiming to be a big fan of the original Mandalorian of the Star Wars films, Boba Fett.
“For most kids growing up with those films, [Boba Fett] was one of the most favorite characters, even though he’s barely in the films,” Waititi recalled. “Just the idea of bounty hunters, the helmets are so cool. Just getting to see characters like that and getting to shoot with them is pretty cool.”
As for what we can expect from The Mandalorian, though Waititi didn’t give a whole lot away, he at least offered some heavy praise for Favreau’s work on the show, while also teasing a sequence with a whole load of Stormtroopers.
“Favreau’s a genius and so smart and so good at what he does and creating these worlds,” Waititi explained. “The scripts are really great. It was really fun doing something in the Star Wars universe. It was every kid’s dream just to see a storm trooper. When you’re doing these scenes with like 50 or 60 of them, it’s pretty amazing. I loved it.”
Indeed, set photos indicate that the show will feature the return of both Stormtroopers and Death Troopers, and they certainly won’t be the only familiar figures in the mix, either. In the last couple of months, for instance, Favreau has shared pics of R5-D4, the malfunctioning droid from A New Hope, as well as IG-88, one of the bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back. We’ll find out how Waititi and the rest of the team put these characters to use when The Mandalorian comes to Disney Plus later this year.
